Movable hay-rack attachment.



G. W. WURTZ.

MOVABLE HAY RACK ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR-3,1916- PatentedSept. 26,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

G. W. WURTZ.

MOVABLE HAY RACK ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 3. 1916. y

l 1 99, 1 42 Paitented Sept. 26, 1916.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. I: .5. I: .J

a w 3/ a z 16 g LLiLwuw/Toz GLKLWURTZ" GEORGE W. WUIR'IZ, OE INDEBENDENCEi-.,IOWA;

MOVABLE HAYr-RACK ATTACHMENTA Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented "Sept. .26, .1916.

Application filed April 3; 1916. Serial N0. 88;531.

To-all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE WV. WURTZ, acitizen-of the United States, residingat Independence, in the county of Buchanan, State ()fIOWiL, have invented @a new and use ful Movable -Hay-Rack Attachment; and I: do hereby declare the following to bee full, clear, and exact description of the inVen-. tion, such as will enable others skilled in the. artto which: it: appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates tovcertain newand 'useful improvements in-hay racks, and has-for itSOb'jeCt to. provide a device of. this character which includes a movable. platform and a novel means for sliding. the. same. backandrforth upon the hay rack in suchla manner as to. admit of;the-racl(.being loadedawith hay by means of a hay loader without the; necessity of: manuallydi'stributing, the hay. uponuthe raclnafter it has been discharged by the loader.

Finrther objects of the invention are. to provide-a movable h'ay rackwhich is comparatively simple and. ine-Xpensivein its construction, which can. be easily and quickly. operated; which is at all times underthe perfect-1 control of; the operator, which eliminates the necessity for. any laborious manual distribution of the hay upomthe-rack, and which comprises few anddurable. parts such as are not liable to get out 1 of repair. 7

-With these and other: objects in view, the invention consistsin certain-novel combinations a d arrangements of the partsas will a more fully appear as the description proceeds}, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of'the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompai-iying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hay rack constructedin accordance withthe invention portions ofthe rear wheel.of the. vehicle being broken away the movable platform bein shownat therear end'of the. hay rack with the gearing properly. adjusted for driving-the movable platform to the front; ofthe hayrack when the machineis advanced. Fig. 2 is a top: plan view, the Shift: inggear:being-shownby full lines in inoperative p osition and .bydottedvlines in op crativepositioin Fig. 3 is. aarealr view of the hay rack with the running gear omitted,

the sliding gear being shown in an inoperative position. Rig. 4 is a -top pla-nview of the gearin at the rear endiof the liayaracle, the sliding gearbeing shown .inan inoperae tlve position. Fig. Sis-arear-view ofla hay rack. embodying a modifiedlform of the in- ,vention the runninggearofthe. vehicle belngpomitted. Fig.6 .is a longitudinal sectional View. throughifthe bed of'thie hayv rack, alsoirshowing. the modified. construe. t1on-.. Fig. 181a plamview oft-he rear-end of:the.hay-raclnslio ving astill.fiu'thermodh ficationa, 8-is asdetail view ofitheafootr maydoe suitably, mounted upon the running gear; and are; connected at the= lowen, edges thereof by. suitable cross bars 2. The run- 11mg gean may. be of any conventlonal con:

struction and; includes. the usual front wheels-.3 andirear wheels 4;, DISPOSGQOVGI" thesillsd-is-the bed 5 of th e hay rack, said laterally; uponopposite sides thereof.- The extremities of. the transverse beams 6 are.

provided with keepers .7 which receive the lower, ends, ofythe: uprightaposts 9 ofsidev frames 9 to. retain the latterin position. At:

the front-of the. bed :5 the usual head frame 10 is provided.

Mounted uponthe, forward ends of the .sills latithe. front of the hay rack areb'earmg b1ocks 1-1 between wlnch a transverse shaft; 12v is, ]QI1lI12tl6Cl. A pair of sprocket,

wheels 13 are rigidlyapplied to they transverse shaft .12 for engagement with the endless sprocketichains 14. Any. suitablemeans maybe provided'for tightening and loosen- .ing the endless. sprocket chains 14 for the purpose. of maintaining the proper tension therein and, in the. present instance, the chains are shown as provided at sultable points with the turn buckles 15. v

bed; being secured to: transverse beams 6 which. rest upon the sills. 1 and pro ect.

At. therear ends of the sills 1 suitable bearings are provided within .which an upper transverse shaft'lG, and a lower transverse shaftl? [are ourn-aled, said shafts hav ing 1: parallel relation to. each other, and the wheels 18 upper shaft, 16 being provided with sprocket corresponding to the front sprocket wheels 13, and around which the endless chains 14 pass. At a point between the sprocket wheels 18 the upper shaft 16 is provided with a rigid gear wheel 19 and a rigid sprocket wheel 20. The sprocket wheel 20 is connected by a sprocket chain 21 to a sprocket wheel 22 which is loose upon the lower shaft 17, being provided on one side thereof with a clutch face 23. Slidably mounted upon the lower shaft 17 and keyed thereon is a shiftable gear wheel 24: which has a clutch face 25 on one side thereof, said clutch face being adapted to be brought into engagement with the clutch face 23 of the sprocket wheel 22 so as to lock the latter with the lower shaft 17. A coil spring 26 surrounds the lower shaft 17 and is interposed between the sliding gear 24: and one of the bearings, said spring normally tending to move the sliding. gear toward the loose sprocket wheel 22 so as to hold the clutch faces 23 and 25 in engagement with each other.

A collar 27 loosely engages the sliding gear 24, said collar being suitably connected by a loose joint 28 to one end of a gear shifting lever 29. This lever 29 is journaled within a bearing 30 at the end of the bed 5 of the hay rack, the upper end of the lever being provided with a handle 31 and having a spring engagement with a notched rack 32'on the bed 5. It will be remembered'that the sliding gear 24 is keyed upon the lower shaft 17 so that it always revolves therewith, and the normal position of the sliding gear is at an intermediate point between the loose sprocket wheel 22 of the lower shaft 17 and the rigid gear wheel 19 of the upper shaft 16. There is then no connection between the lower shaft-17 and the upper shaft 16, and either shaft can turn independently of the other shaft. However, by suitably manipulating the gear shifting lever 29 the sliding gear 24 can be moved in either direction.

ing gear 2-1 is moved in one direction it is brought into mesh with the gear wheel 19 of the upper shaft 16, thereby locking the two shafts 16 and 17 together so that they will rotate in opposite directions when either shaft is turned, and when it is moved 'in the opposite direction the clutch faces 23 and 25 are brought into engagementwith each other so as to lock the loose sprocket wheel 22 to the lower shaft '17, thereby connecting the two shafts 16 and 17 so that they will rotate in the same direction.

The upper reaches of the endless chain 14 slide over the top of the bed 5, while the lower reaches thereof pass under the said bed 5. A platform 33 is secured to the upper reaches of the chains 14;, said platform \Vhen this slid- Y substantially half the length thereof so as to cover about one half of the area of the bed. For convenience in construction this platform 33 may be formed in a number of sections 33 which are suitably secured. to A transversely extending upright frame ca is provlded at the for the chains 1-l.

ward end of the sliding platform 33 to pre vent hay which is loaded upon the platform from falling over upon the bed'5 in front thereof.

In the initial stage of loading the hay rack, the platform 33 is moved to the rear thereof and the hay loaded. directly upon the platform by means of any of the usual loading machines After the desired amount of hay has been loaded upon the platform it is moved to the front of the rack by means of the chain andrsprocket connection. The

hay previously loaded upon the platform is thus moved bodily tothe front of the hay rack, leaving the rear. end of the hay rack clear so that hay-can be loaded directly thereon from :the loading 'machine.

In this manner the hay rack can be quickly loaded directly from the loader without any necessity for manually distributing the hay" upon therack and laboriously moving the hayto the front thereof as it is piled upon: 9

the rear end of the rack fromthe loading machine.

Loosely mounted upon opposite ends of the lower transverse shaft 17 at the rear end of the ray rack are sprocket wheels 34:, said sprocket wheels being provided with clutch faces 35 which are adapted to engage clutch disks 38 rigid with the shaft, thereby locking the sprocket wheels with the shaft when the.

former are rotated in the proper direction;

@011 springs for moving the platform 33.

39 which surround the shaft 17 and are in- Y terposed between the sprocket wheels 34: and

disks 4C0 serve to normally hold the clutch around idlers 42 carried by the swinging.

ends of arms 13 which are carried by and 1120 project from blocks 14, said blocks being pivoted at 45 to the longitudinal sills 1 of the hay rack. The swinging ends of the arms 13 are adjustably connected by means of links 46 to the ends of crank arms 47 which are rigid with opposite ends of i a. transverse shaft 48, said shaft extending under the hay rack and being journalcd within suitable bearings applied thereto. The crank arms 47 and link-members 46 being of the full width of the bed 5, and of provide in effect toggle levers for swinging the. armed-3 up and down to. move-the chains 4:1 into and .out. of mesh with largesprocket wheelssigl applied to the rear WhBGlSLOfrChG' running gear. W-hen the arms a3 are swung upwardly. the. chains 14:. are disengaged from the sprocket wheelslQso that .tl1e;=hay-- rack can be. moved from place to. place with out driving the sprocket; wheels, 3% upon the.

lower shaft l'r attherear end of: the rack.

However, when the arms 4E3 are; swung downwardly. so as to bring thechalnskdl: 1nto-- engagement Wllll'h the large sprocket:

wheelsAS), and the hay rack. lS-lllO-VGCl forward,- motion will be transmitted from; the rear wheels l offthe running gear to the sprockets 3: and thelower transverse; shaft 17. If the. sliding gear2liisbroughtinto. mesh withthe gear wheel 19 of-the upper shaft 16, the platform 333will thenbe moved toward thefront end of the=hay rack, al-

thoughifthe. slidinggear Qhis moved in the opposite direction so..as to bring the clutch faces23 and 25. into engagement .with eachqother, .theplatform 33 will be moved toward .the rear end of the hay rack.

One. of the crank. arms 47. of the shaft 48 is connected by. a. forwardly extending linlemember-SO to, the lower end .of an up right lever 51-wh1ch is arranged at the. for? ward end of the hay racle and pivotally connected thereto at a pointispace'd from the lower end thereof, as indicated zit-52. This.

lever 51 controlsthe swingingarms a3 and by manipulating this-lever theisprocket chain ll can-be movedinto and out of engagement with the large sprocket wheels 4-9. The upper end of. the lever 51. operates withinakeeper 53. which has notched seats 54 at opposite endsofoneside thereof. The

; .lever 51 is formed of spring material so as tobe sprung laterally out of engagement with either one ofthe notched seats54 when. it 1s. desired to move the lever ineitherthe. rigid gearwheel 19 of the upper shaft.

16, the platform 33 will be moved toward the frontofthe. hay rack. A trip finger 55 projects forwardly from one side of the platform- 33, said finger being provided with av pointed end 55" and with a shoulder 55. 7 "When theplatform 33 reaches the. forward limit .of its movement, the. pointed end 55 ofthetripfinger engages one side of the. lever 51 to flexitlaterally and disen.

gageit from the rear notched seat 54 of the.

keeper 53, after which the shoulder 55 engages-thelever. 51 to swing it forwardly. This forward movement; of; the lever 51.:

- operates, as has .been previouslydescribed,

to. .swingvthe arms/l3 upwardly anddisengage the sprocketwh'ains 41. from the large sprocketwheel #19 ,ofsthe rear-wheel at; The platform 33 is. thus. automatically stopped at: the. forward limit of: its :movement without; danger- 0f strainingbrbreaking any of. the; parts of the mechanism. Vfihen it isdesired to move the, platform. 33* from the frontitosthe rear oftthe hay rack, the gear shifting-lever 2.9 is manipulated tomove the; sliding gear 2 1 l away-.from the rigid g gear19 ofthe uppenshaft: l6 and bring the. clutch faces 23. and into. engagementwith each other, thereby locking the loose sprocket: wheel 22 with the lower shaft 17. The. main lever-.51-is then flexed laterallyto disengage lti from the shouldeln-ffii oftheytrip; finger-:55 and -,swung -rearwardly, thereby causing the sprocket chains d1;- of the driving. mecha nism to be lowered into mesh with the large sprocket wheels t9uof' the-gear wheels d. \Vhjenthe vehicle is movedforwardly the platform 33: .will now be forcibly drawn toward therear end of the hayrack. When. it reaches the limitzofiitsinovementjt will engage the handle 31 of the gear shifting lever; 29,. and move. the same, rearwardly, thereby, causing.- the. gear shifting lever to slide the gear upon the. lower shaftli until .theclutch connection between the said gear wheel and the loosesprooket;wheelis. broken. The platform will thus be automatically stopped at the limit. ofv its movementwithout dangerofstraining or breakinganyofthe parts .of-the.mechanism. In this connection-it will be remembered that the. upper arm of the, gear shifting lever 29 has .a spring engagement with the; notches of the rack 32 so that it can be forcibly movedin either direction and will remain in any adjusted position.

A slight modification-isshown by Figs. 5 and 6,in,which.cables 56 aresubstituted for the endless chains 1%, said cables passing around a grooved roller 57 upon the front transverse shaft 12, and being wound upon a roller 58 rigid with the upper transverse shaft 16 at the rear of the hay rack. The platform 33 issecured to-the upper reaches ofthe cables 56 by means of-suitable clips 59, being constructed exactly. as previously described; Thesliding gear '24 is rigid with 7 a roller or cylinder 60 which is keyed upon the lo-wertransverse shaft 1?, said cylinder being loosely engaged bythe collar 27 of the gear'shifting lever, and having'the clutch face 25 at one end thereof. The operation of the device is exactly aspreviouslv de-' scribed, fthe sliding gear 24 being adapted to be movedinto an intermediate position. asindicatedby Fig. fi soflastor break all' frame 10 at 72.

connection between the lower shaft 17 and the upper shaft 16, although the gear is adapted to be moved either to bring it into mesh with. the gear wheel 19 of the upper shaft 16, or to bring the clutch faces 23 and into engagement with each other.

A still further modification is shown by Fig. 7, in which a single cable 61 is substituted for the two cables 56. At the rear of the hay rack this cable 61 is wound upon a roller 58 rigid with the upper shaft 16. The sliding gear 24: is mounted upon the lower shaft 17 in substantially the same manner as illustrated by Fig. 5, so that when moved in one direction it will mesh with the gear 19 of the upper shaft 16, while when moved in the opposite direction, the clutch faces 23 and 25 will be brought into engagement with each other. The operation of the hay rack is exactly as previously described.

Instead of using a chain and sprocket drive between the two shafts when returning the platform 33 tothe rear of the rack, a suitable detachable crank handle 62 may be fitted to one end of the upper shaft 16 and the operation performed manually. There being no load upon the platform 33 during the return movement thereof, this could be accomplished manually without difficulty.

F or convenience in manipulating the flexible hand lever 50, a foot operated mechanism may be provided for flexin the same preparatory to shifting its position, said mechanism being shown more clearly by Fig. 8. A guide shoe extends along the inner side of the lever, said guide shoe being carried by one arm of a bell crank lever 71 which is pivotally mounted upon the The opposite arm of the bell crank lever 71 is connected to a plunger 7 3 which is slidably mounted within a suitable guide 74, and has a foot piece 75 applied to the upper end thereof. By pressing upon the plunger with the foot and forcing the same downwardly into the position indicated by dotted lines on Fig. 8, the guide shoe 70 is forced outwardly so as to flex the lever 51 and disengage it from the notches 54: of the keeper 58. The lever can then be readily shifted forward or backward, just as may be desired.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new'and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is 1- 1. A device of the character described including a running gear, a hay rack mounted thereon and formed. with a bed, transverse shafts journaled upon the hay rack at opposite ends of the bed, a flexible member extending along the bed and having an operative connection with the transverse shafts, a

as to be moved back and forth upon the bed 1 by the operation thereof, a third transverse,

shaft journaled upon one end of the bed, a

driving connection between the third transverse shaft-and the wheels-of therunning 'gear, a chain and sprocket connection be its shaft, a sliding gear keyed upon the said shaft, a gear rigid with the other shaft and adapted to have the sliding gear moved into mesh therewith, and clutch means for looking the loose sprocket wheel with its shaft.

2. A device of the character described including a running gear, a hay rack mounted thereon and formed with a bed, transverse shafts journaled upon the hay rack at opposite ends of the bed, a flexible member extending along the bed and having an opera tive connection with the transverse shafts, a platform secured to the flexible member so as to be moved. back and forth uponthe bed by theoperation'thereof, a third trans verse shaft journaled upon one end of the.

bed, a driving connection between the third transverse shaft and the wheels of the run= ning gear, a chain and sprocket connection between the third transverse shaft and the adjacent one of the firstmentioned transverse shafts, one of the sprocket wheels be ing loose upon its shaft, a sliding gear keyed upon the said shaft, a gear wheel rigid with the opposite shaft and adapted to have the sliding gear moved into mesh therewith, a-

clutch for locking the loose sprocket .wheel with its shaft, and shifting lever opera-r tively connected with the sliding gear wheel and the clutch to close the clutch when the ing along the bed and having an operative form secured to the flexible member so as. to

connection with the transverse shafts, a platbe moved back and forth upon the bed by i i the operation thereof, a third transverse.

shaft journaled upon-the hay rack at one end of the bed, a driving connection between the third transverse shaft and the wheels of the running gear, a chain and sprocket connection between the third transverse shaft and the adjacent one of the first men-1 1 tionedtransverse shafts, one of the sprocket wheels being loose upon its shaft, a sliding,

rigid with the opposite shaft and adapted to have the sliding gear moved into mesh therewith, cooperating clutch faces on the sliding gear and the loose sprocketwheel,

means for moving the sliding gear in either CllI'GCtlOIl to bring 1t into mesh w1th the gear gear keyed upon the said shaft, a gear wheel wheel of the-other shaft or'closethe clutch,

-andmeans-actuated bythe platform when it reaches one limit of its'movement for automaticallymoving thesliding gear into an inoperative position.

4. A device of the character describedineluding-a running gear, :a hay rack mounted thereon and formed with a bed, transverse shaft-s journaled upon the hay rack at opposite ends of the bed, a flexible member extending along the bed and operatively connected with the transverse shafts, a platform secured to the flexible member so as-to be moved back and forth upon the bed by the operation thereof, a third transverse shaft journaled upon the bed at one end thereof, a driving connection between the third transverse shaft and the wheels of the running gear, a chain and sprocket connection be tween the third transverse shaft and the adj acent one of the first mentioned transverse shafts, one of the sprocket wheels being loose upon its shaft, a sliding gear keyed upon the said shaft, a gear wheel rigid with the opposite shaft and adapted to have the sliding gear brought into mesh therewith, co-

- oaeratin clutch faces on the sliding ear b k h and the loose sprocket wheel, the sliding gear being brought into mesh with the sprocket wheel of the other shaft when moved in one direction and closing the clutch when moved in the other direction, thereby enabling the platform to be moved either backward or forward, means actuated by the platform for automatically moving the sliding gear into an inoperative position when the platform reaches one limit of its movement, and means actuated by the platform for automatically breaking the driving conneotion with the wheels of the running gear when it reaches the opposite limit of its movement.

A device of the character described including a running gear, a hay rack mounted thereon and formed with a bed, transverse shafts journaled upon the hay rack at opposite ends of the bed, a flexible member extending along the bed and operatively connected with the transverse shafts, a platform secured to the flexible member so as to be moved back and forth upon the bed by the operation thereof, a third transverse shaft j ournaled upon the bed at one end thereof, a chain and sprocket connection between the third transverse shaft and the adjacent one of the first mentioned transverse shafts, one of the sprocket wheels being loose upon its shaft, a sliding gear keyed upon the said shaft, a gear wheel rigid with the opposite shaft and adapted to have the sliding gear brought into mesh therewith, cooperating clutch faces on the sliding gear and loose sprocket wheel, a shifting lever for moving the sliding gear in either direction, the two gear wheels being brought into mesh when it is moved in one directionywhile the clutch is closed when itis moved 1nthe= opposite extending along the bed and operatively connected to the transverse shafts, a platform secured to the flexible member so as to be moved back and forth upon the bed by the operation thereof, a third transverse shaft journaled upon the hay rack at one end of the bed, sprocket wheels upon the third transverse shaft, a clutch connection between the sprocket wheels and the said shaft, a driving connection between the sprocket wheels and the wheels of the running gear, a chain and sprocket connection between the third transverse shaft and the adjacent one of the first mentioned transverse shafts, one of, the sprocket wheels being loose upon its shaft, a sliding gear keyed upon the said shaft, a gear wheel rigid with the opposite shaft and adapted to have the sliding gear brought into mesh therewith, cooperating clutch faces on the sliding gear and loose sprocket wheel, and a shifting lever connected to the sliding gear for moving it in either direction, the gear wheels being brought into mesh with each other when it is moved in one direction, while the clutch is closed when it is moved in the opposite direction.

7 A device of the character described including a running gear, a hay rack mounted thereon and formed with a bed, transversev shafts journaled upon the hay rack at opposite ends of the bed, a flexible member extending along the bed and operatively connected to the transverse shafts, a driving connection between one of the transverse shafts and the wheels of the running gear, a lever controlling the said driving connection, locking means for the lever, and a trip finger projecting from the platform, said finger being provided with cam means for unlocking the lever and with a shoulder for engaging the lever to move the same and break the driving connection when the platform reaches the limit of its movement. 7

8. A device of the character describedineluding a running gear, a hay rack mounted thereon and formed with a bed, transverse shafts journaled upon the hay rack at opposite ends of the bed, a fiexible member extending along the bed and having an operative connection with the transverse shafts, a platform securedto the flexible member so as to be moved back and forth upon the bed by the operation. thereof, a driving connection between one of the transverse shafts and the Wheels of the running gear, a lever controlling the said driving connection and constructed to flex laterally, a notched seat for receiving the lever to lock it against movement, and a trip finger upon the plat-. form, said trip finger having a cam nose for flexing the lever laterally to disengage it 10 from the notched seat, and being also provided With a shoulder for subsequentlyengaging the lever to move it and breakthe driving connection.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence ofi Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patent:. Washington, D. C. 

